Birth story - Charlotte and baby Mila

When I planned my birth, I wanted a midwife-led water birth. I ended up being induced then having an elective caesarian due to complications with the induction pessaries.

PREGNANCY:

My first trimester was not easy to say the least. 2 weeks after my egg transfer, I suffered a ruptured ovarian cyst and was rushed to hospital for emergency major abdominal surgery after taking progesterone pessaries. At this point, I was 5 weeks pregnant and there was a risk that we may lose the baby. We had a week to wait to see if there was a heartbeat and at 6 weeks we have never felt so lucky to hear and see a nice strong heartbeat!! My recovery was difficult but I tried to keep myself as well nourished as possible.

My second trimester was easier but I had severe migraines and sickness. I also had bronchitis for 8 weeks!

Third trimester was easier again but we had a lot of reduced movements which ended up with us being given an induction date of Thursday 28th April.

INDUCTION:

We arrived at the hospital at 4pm on Thursday. I was given propess at 8pm then my partner and I excitedly awaited signs of labour. My cervix was soft but I was not dilated and baby’s head was very low so it was difficult to place the pessary behind her head.

I had Braxton Hicks in the first 24 hours but there were no changes to my cervix. A second pessary was given at 8pm on Friday 29th April but unfortunately this triggered a 4 hour long contraction. I was experiencing a similar pain to those that I had experienced in the initial stages of my ruptured cyst. We put the monitor on and babies heart rate was sporadically dropping so the pessary had to be removed and a plan needed to be put in place. Due to no changes in the state of my cervix and being unable to break my waters, it was decided that I would be booked in for a caesarean the next day.

C SECTION:

We were first on the list for the morning of Sunday 01st April and it looked as though labour ward was quiet so we were very excited!! Unfortunately, labour ward soon got very busy and there were a number of emergencies. It got to around 4pm and we thought that we were not going to get in theatre that day. However, the doctor came to see us and they managed to squeeze us in!

My c-section experience was amazing. Our anaesthetist was brilliant and put us at ease from the moment we stepped into theatre. The spinal block felt like an other standard injection and once I was lay on the bed, we got to choose music that we wanted to play for the duration of the surgery.

The feeling of a spinal block is very strange but in no way painful, my feet to the top of my stomach felt warm and I was still very alert and able to chat with my partner while the team did what they needed to do. We were told everything that was happening and within 20 minutes from arriving in theatre, we saw our little girl for the very first time. My partner was taken to cut the cord and then we waited for her to be passed to us once all of her checks were done. She was passed to us for pictures and first hellos while the team completed my surgery.

The whole experience was incredible and the best news of all is that a C-section was the best decision we could have made. After surgery we were told that due to the state of the umbilical cord and how it was situated on the placenta, it is likely the umbilical would have collapsed during a natural delivery. Again, we have never felt so lucky!!! It makes me so emotional thinking of what could have happened.

I’m so happy to say that this is where my birth story ends and that my caesarean delivery was so peaceful and enjoyable. To add to our amazing experience, our little girl is absolutely perfect and we could not be more thankful to the amazing team that made sure she entered this world safely.

Here are some pictures of our precious little girl, Mila. We are heads over heels!